Michael from Vaughan

2020 was the year to stay home and fix up your house since travel was impossible, so that's what I did. My garage was looking kind of crap so I decided it needed to be painted and organized. Before I would do all this I needed to get the drywall in the garage to a state where painting it wouldn't highlight all the crappy builder's drywall work so I took an add out on Homestars for drywall repair. 3 companies sent me quotes but I ended up hiring Dan from Dan's Home Improvements. He was honest and fairly priced. A week later Dan showed up and got to work. He mudded and patched up my whole garage to a state where I wouldn't mind painting it because it would look great. In one day Dan mudded and sanded the drywall on the walls and ceiling. His work is great and I would definitely hire him again for future projects.

I shopped around for new garage doors and all I knew was that I wanted something more modern and a high quality door with the best insulation because like many people, I have a bedroom above the garage in my home. The builder's series doors were a joke and it was time they got replaced. At first I had found a CHI Branded door that I liked which looked like hardwood strips. When I spoke to Garage door depot they informed me that Garaga also made the same looking door. Antony from Garage Door Depot in Mississauga answered all my questions and even convinced me to go with the Garaga door ofver the CHI door despite the CHI door being more expensive. Antony and the team at Garage Door Depot assured me that Garaga is a superior door to CHI, so off I went to do some research. I discovered that they are right. Not to mention that Garage is locally made in Barrie, ON. After some back and forth, Garage Door Depot matched a quote I had received from some other garage company that was lower than their original price because they wanted to earn my business. This means a lot to me as most companies would let you walk away for the next customer. I ended up choosing the Garaga Standard+ Moderno Multi in the newly released Iron Ore Walnut colour. This installation would include all new hardware (except Garage Door Opener which I already had). The Garaga brand supplies all it's own hardware which is much better quality than the standard hardware that most lesser brands use. Ryan from Garage Door Depot showed up at 9am and was finished replacing two 8'x7' garage doors by 1:00pm all by himself. He even had to raise my garage door openers slightly as they interfered with the new doors. The next day Mike from Precision Custom Aluminum completed the capping and caulking around the garage door frames. I would highly recommend Garage Door Depot to replace your garage doors. Do your homework and get some other quotes first, but the Garage door Depot team wants to work with you and I would highly recommend them. I posted pictures of the before and after below. Yes I did let my son fire some hockey pucks through the old doors the day before installation.

I knew I wanted a lawn irrigation system, but finding an installer was difficult, because there are so many. I figured I would check out HomeStars and Green Valley Irrigation is right at the top of the list. I was skeptical, so I tried other review sites and Green Valley remained at the top. I figure I would call up John @ Green Valley Irrigation back in late spring of this year to get a quote from him so I could budget a lawn irrigation system into my landscaping projects for this year. John came at the drop of a hat. From the get go I could see that he is very passionate and knowledgeable about his trade. Never once did he try and up sell me on any sort of system or options, in fact the opposite was true. John's motto is keep the system as simple as you can to avoid adding extra zones and thus extra cost. Once I finally got my landscaping done by late July, I called up John again and he was at my house within a week. He honored his original price even though the scope of work had slightly changed (increased). John told me it would take a day to finish the whole project (I was skeptical I admit, only 1 day?) John and his crew showed up at 7:50am for an 8:00am start time. Who shows up early these days? It's hard enough to get contractors to even start in the same week as you book them. He installed 4 zones at my house and installed the controller as well and was done by 11:30am. I've never seen such an organized bunch of workers. Everyone had their role and the entire job was finished in less that 4 hours. My system has Hunter PGJ rotor heads in 1 zone in the front yard to water my grass. In the same zone, the flower pots have tiny micro sprays in them to take care of my potted globe cedars. The second zone in the front consists of Hunter PLD drip irrigation hoses in the flower beds to ensure efficient even watering of my hostas, day lilies, and ornamental grasses. The backyard has 2 zones which are made up of Hunter pro-fixed nozzles which take care of the trees, garden, and grass. I can tell you that the system works flawlessly. John insisted in using Hunter products, which in my book are the top of the line anyways, because he doesn't want problems with his work. He also took the time to explain how each zone is piped, how to adjust each sprinkler head, and how to operate the computer. Many times throughout the walk through, John reminded me that if I ever had any questions, I could call him up any time. I am extremely picky about work done to my house, so much so that it takes a while to find a suitable contractor that I would even let work on my projects. I would rehire John and the Green Valley Irrigation team over and over again. They have got their trade down to an art and if anything is wrong, they will make it right. The customer service is top notch and they are highly recommended. If you're looking for a lawn irrigation system, call Green Valley Irrigation now!!!

I took a gamble with Cabana Landscaping as I found their ad on Kijiji. With there being nearly a billion landscaping companies in the GTA I wasn't sure what I was going to get. I called Jaren up and he immediately alleviated any doubt in my mind that he was a fly by night operation. We scheduled a site visit to take a look at the scope of work. Jaren was punctual and a pleasure to deal with. He took the time to answer my sea of questions and to educate me on the sodding process. Jaren was even kind enough to visit my house twice before getting the go ahead to start work. He scheduled me in to get the job done ASAP. On the work day, he and his crew showed up early, which is really rare these days. After Jaren reviewed the scope of work yet again with me, and tweaked a few changes, his crew got right to work. My downspout was rerouted into a weeping tile across my lawn and fence boards were placed up against my fence to prevent any dirt from spilling onto my neighbour's properties. Then began the weed removal process, followed by grading with premium soil, and before I knew it, the new sod was in and rolled with a roller. They completed the backyard and side boulevard at my home in about 6 hours, which I believe is really quick. When I arrived back to inspect the job, the yard was spotless and everything was cleaned up. The job was done perfectly and everything I asked for had been completed. Jaren explained why he graded the yard in such a way to promote the proper drainage and pointed out a few other details that were very educational. This was one of the few times in my life where I hired a company to do a task and actually felt like I got my money's worth and more. Would I hire Cabana Landscaping for future projects; in a heart beat. I will definitely give Jaren a call when we decide to start landscaping other areas of my house. Do not hesitate to give these guys a call for your landscaping needs. I am a very detail oriented guy and as picky as I am, I was not disappointed. To give you an idea of how meticulous about his work he is, Jaren even took the time to make sure that the grey manufacturer's printing on the 4" white PVC pipe used to drop my downspout underground, was against the house wall so no one would see it. You just don't get this these days!!!